Jury Awards $110 Million in Largest Talcum Powder Verdict Ever

Posted on behalf of Stephens, Anderson & Cummings on May 15, 2017 in Product Liability

Earlier this month, a jury in St. Louis issued the largest-ever verdict in a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over its talcum powder products.

J&J and talc supplier Imerys Talc were ordered to pay $110 million in compensation to a 62-year-old Virginia woman who claimed her ovarian cancer was caused by using these companies' talcum-powder products for feminine hygiene for 40 years.

The talcum powder lawsuit alleged that J&J and Imerys did not sufficiently warn consumers like the Virginia woman that using products like Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene increased the risk of developing ovarian cancer.

J&J was found to be 99 percent responsible for the woman contracting ovarian cancer, while Imerys was only 1 percent responsible.

The jury ordered J&J and Imerys to pay $105 million and $50,000 in punitive damages, respectively. The defendants also had to pay a total of $5.4 million in compensatory damages.

The plaintiff was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. It went into remission but has since returned and spread to her liver and she is now receiving chemotherapy.

While this is the largest talcum powder verdict of any of the cases that have gone to trial, it is also the eight-largest award a U.S. jury has issued in 2017.

Previous Talcum Powder Verdicts

This is the fourth talcum powder lawsuit in the past 15 months in which compensation was awarded to the plaintiff.

Juries in the previous three cases awarded nearly $200 million in compensation to the plaintiffs, including:

An award of $72 million in February of 2016 to the family of a woman who developed ovarian cancer and died

An award of $55 million one year ago to a woman who developed ovarian cancer after using talcum powder products

There was another talcum powder case that concluded in March. The case was filed by a Tennessee woman who claimed she contracted ovarian cancer from Baby Powder. The jury sided with J&J in an 11-1 decision.

There are approximately 2,400 pending talcum powder lawsuits making similar claims to these five cases.

Contact Us About Filing a Talcum Powder Claim

If your ovarian cancer diagnosis followed years of talcum powder usage, the two may be connected. If so, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.